


A Guide On What To Do When The Love Of Your Life Shows Up After Years Of Absence With His Secretary And A Mouth Filled With Sand

by probablyjuno



Series: Juno Steel and the Pursuit of Happiness [1]
Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: I am not sorry, Other, Season 2 spoilers, join me in my pain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 12:51:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18778648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/probablyjuno/pseuds/probablyjuno
Summary: Peter pretends he’s fine. Juno feels uncomfortable. The crew was not prepared for such tension.





	A Guide On What To Do When The Love Of Your Life Shows Up After Years Of Absence With His Secretary And A Mouth Filled With Sand

**Author's Note:**

> "If I could hold you  
> If I would dare  
> If I could save you  
> From standing there
> 
> If you could hold me  
> If you would dare  
> If I could stop you  
> From running scared  
> Scared
> 
> Take your last supply  
> To leave this home behind  
> Take your last supply  
> To leave this home behind"
> 
> \- "Caves" by Haux
> 
> (I made a Jupeter [playlist](https://open.spotify.com/user/beauty_hunter/playlist/2HHzo9dM4PGjbiUui0zgYj?si=aD5ifCooT9-jZvpaaKRYpQ%20%E2%80%A6) if you're interested <3)

Peter Nureyev was gone.

 

The man that sat on the RUBY7 was nimble. But though the silhouette was familiar, everything else was foreign.  
His gaunt frame was adorned with a black and white avant-garde outfit, sharp edges jutting out and various fabrics glinting in the Martian light. His lips, curled in a sly smile, were split by a vertical blue stroke of lipstick. Two more blue lines blossomed at the outer corners of his eyes, and ran all the way to his pierced ears. His intense mauve stare was highlighted by heavy black eyeliner. He had salt-and-pepper hair, shaped in precise marcel waves.  
With his gloved hand, the elegant figure held a cigarette holder from which he drew a long drag. 

This was Duke Rose.

 

“Hello, Juno. It’s been a while.”

Hearing his name in Peter’s silky voice always caught his attention. More, it did something to him.  
Juno... Juno - he had always resented his name. A poisoned gift from his mother, constant reminder of his past. But everything the thief touched became sumptuous, ambrosial and luxurious. And Juno would have paid quite a fortune to hear him say his name for as long as they breathed.  
But Juno had lost Peter. Or maybe not - he knew exactly where Peter was - dead and buried, after having stabbed him in the back. This was the last time he would hear his voice. 

\---

The following days were bizarre, to say the least. 

Juno had acquired an official membership with the crew, as well as a new job, along with Rita. And Peter - no, Rose was there too. After some investigating, the detective gleaned that Duke had joined a few months ago. His reputation had preceded him, enough for Buddy to track him down and hire him on sight.

 

Rose, though extravagant, was rather quiet. He observed more than he talked, his eyes so sharp they seemed to pierce through flesh. Juno didn’t find in Duke the dazzling attitude he knew in Peter. Despite his colorful makeup and elevated clothing, he remained reserved.  
Juno could easily tell Peter had practiced this character scrupulously. Almost everything about him was different from the thief. He talked with purpose, and purpose only, always a hand on his chin and the other supporting his elbow.

But Nureyev wasn’t completely gone. Rose sometimes faded, just enough for Peter’s edges to reappear. Juno would catch his eyes, and find a gentleness the thief reserved for him. But the second he looked at him, the mask was up again. And if Peter was only willing to let it down when Juno wasn’t looking, then maybe the detective didn’t belong on this ship. 

But God, those eyes.  
Juno had once felt like he could fix the whole damn galaxy with someone looking at him that way. But in reality, this look was the reason his whole galaxy had been fixed.  
And he had done more than fix the galaxy - he had fixed himself. Yes, Juno Steel, former private eye was still broken, but things had gotten better. And he wasn’t done - he was going to make this better.

 

He had thought day and night about the things he would have said to the thief, were he to ever see him again. Notes were written, sleep was abandoned, and whiskey was involved. He wrote about how he regretted leaving the way he did. About wishing he had been more upfront. About how much he loved him. And how he still did. But words always ended up jumbled and meaningless, so the detective had agreed on letting Peter punch him.  
And now that he had seen him again, he really wished he had punched him. Hell, screamed at him, spat at him, or even walked away. Juno had imagined this reunion a thousand time during sleepless nights, and Duke Rose never was a scenario he had anticipated. But it was by far the worst.

In order for things to get better, Juno needed to address what he had done. He couldn’t stand the idea of Peter still hurting, and if being vulnerable was the solution, then Juno was ready. He didn’t care if Peter chose not to forgive him. Shit, he probably would feel better if he hated him. But he needed to make sure the thief knew how sorry he was.

However, Rose wouldn’t allow it.  
Juno wished Peter would be furious with him, so he could let his anger out, rather than letting it fester and poison him from the inside. But Duke was composed and loved his wife. He never would be mad with him. He had never hurt him.

 

God, Juno hated Rose.  
Everything about him was fake. His smart smile, his honeyed voice, his subtle accent that tasted like champagne. Juno wanted to throw himself at his chest and tear Peter Nureyev from the depth of his heart. But fuck, he had his face. He had his eyes. Worst of all, he had Peter’s smile. For all he did to detach himself from the thief, his fox-teeth smile was something he could never take away. Juno could remember the taste of his lips, cherry wine, and their silky softness. He would give all he had and more to kiss him one last time.  
He couldn’t take the risk of clawing at Rose and potentially harming Peter in the process. No, he had to find the thief and give him a reason to put down his mask.

 

The following days were bizarre, to say the least. Seeing Peter so close and yet so far away was torture. Juno tried to reach him, but all he would get was Rose. He kept lovingly smiling at his wife, brushing his cheek, calling him dear. But Juno knew none of those gestures were for him. Peter was gone, and so was Juno.

The detective felt unwanted. Dahlia had replaced him. A vision of someone he never could have been. 

 

In the following days, Rose revealed Juno’s fake identity.

\- Wait… Dahlia Rose? The Dahlia Rose? That can’t be. 

Buddy stared at Juno in utter disbelief. Rita seemed just as confused, while Vespa only looked amused.

\- What? I don’t understand why you are all so surprised. What’s so hard to believe about a washed-up, broken private eye being the fake wife of the world’s best thief?

Rose gave him a faint smile, his eyes glowed with malice.

\- Oh darling, you think of me as the best thief in the world? Why thank you.  
\- You know what I mean… And don’t call me darling. I’m not your darling. Hell, I’m not yours.  
\- But Dahlia-

Juno slammed his fist in the nearby wall of the ship, his knuckles snapping against the hard surface.

\- Shut it! Don’t fucking call me Dahlia!

The detective pushed his way out of the hall and rushed to his quarters.

 

Dahlia - a vision Peter and Rose preferred over the detective. Who could blame them, really? Juno had broken the thief’s heart after he let him in. Peter had given him a chance, and Juno had sneered at it. 

But a part of Juno couldn’t help but crave those gestures. His skin burned at the touch of Peter’s fingertips. His whole body ached when he called him dear. Maybe this was all he could ever have? Maybe this was for the best?

\---

A month had passed, and Peter was still gone. 

Many attempts had been made - the detective tried to confront him, catch him off guard, but as soon as Juno started mentioning their past relationship, Rose fled. Juno thought several times about blocking his way out, but the fear that filled his eyes wasn’t Rose’s. He just kept hurting Peter when all he wanted was to make things better.

 

Juno had decided to leave. This made no sense. His presence was clearly more hurtful than anything. So he began packing his things and planned on finding a way out of the ship discreetly.

 

“Steel?”

Juno jumped. Jet was towering in the doorway of his room.

 

\- You are leaving.  
\- Yes, Big Man, I’m leaving. I’m gathering my things and getting off this goddamn ship. I should have done this long ago.  
\- Why?  
\- I’m useless here. We’ve been barely doing anything. I’m bored out of my mind, P- Rose can’t stand me and Rita has a new boss. So, yes, I’m leaving.  
\- That’s not true.  
\- … Which part?  
\- We have only been doing small missions to prepare for an ambitious one. We need your skills to assure the success of said mission. You are bored because you are spending your days locked in your room alone. Rose doesn’t hate you and Rita doesn’t need a boss, she needs a friend.

Juno’s mouth dropped slightly. He shook his head and grabbed his bag. He thought, for just a second, about bringing the dahlia flowers with him. They were resting in a vase on his bedside table, looking as bright as the first day he received them. But thought better of it and headed for the door.

\- Please let me through.  
\- No.  
\- Why?! Why do you care, Jet?!  
\- I don’t. You are free to leave this ship, but after we are done with our mission.

The detective looked up at the large individual blocking his path. 

\- When’s the mission?  
\- In 5 days.

Juno sighed. “Okay. But after that I’m leaving, you hear me?!”

Jet nodded and watched as the detective unpacked his things.

 

It took Juno getting shot for Peter to return.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Travelers! Thank you so much for reading this fic. I'm glad to have you join me for the ride. This is the first of a (very long I hope) series. I already have a few fics written as well as plans. I hope to see you again for the next chapter of our story <3 (follow me on Twitter [@probablyjuno](https://twitter.com/probablyjuno) for fic updates!)
> 
> Special thanks to @DaineVin for inspiring me and pushing me to start writing again, and thank you for your support and feedback ; thanks to @awkwardcritter for being the best hype friend, for always being so sweet and caring, and for helping me edit this fic! (sorry for the feels) <3


End file.
